Spotlight on Girl Scout Alum Angela Bennett

Leadership in action – that’s what living a G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)TM life is all about. Meet Girl Scout Alum, former GSKSMO board member and member of Daisy’s Circle and the Juliette Gordon Low Society, Angela Bennett! This Girl Scout has been a leader in the KC community for years, serving on boards around the city, becoming the first black attorney at her law firm and as a Regional Director of the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. Now retired, Angela is dedicated to improving her community through volunteerism!

Angela Bennett was raised in Kansas City, MO and started Girl Scouts in second grade. She remembers her first overnight campout was at Camp Timberlake and from her 2nd year of Girl Scouts on, she attended Camp Oakledge, well into her high school years. At camp, Angela learned critical networking and relationship building skills that would help her in future careers.

“When I was at camp, I had the opportunity to meet new people. I met girls from other communities that I wasn’t always exposed to and that was a good experience,” Angela said. Attending camp in the mid-1960s meant Angela was sometimes faced with racial prejudice, but at camp, she found those stereotypes and prejudices changed by the end of resident camp more often than not. That’s the power of getting girls together in a common activity away from the city and societal pressures – they can learn about one another in a safe space.

Beyond camping, Angela learned business skills through the Cookie Program. Her leader, Connie, made a large impact on her life and helped motivate her to succeed in the Cookie Program. “Our living room would be filled with cookie boxes before we could deliver them,” Angela said. These skills translated into adulthood as Angela attended UMKC for undergrad and Law School!

After graduating law school, Angela Bennett worked in a variety of occupations, blazing trails along the way. She served in the County Council office, worked for the Missouri Attorney General in the Consumer Protection division, in Army Corp of Engineers and Lathrop Gage. “I went to law school because I wanted to help people. My parents and Girl Scouts instilled in me a strong sense of giving back, so that’s always been important in my career,” Angela said.

With that motivation to give back, Angela accepted a position as the Regional Director of the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and served in that role for 17 years before retiring in 2014. In this role she was able to make a major impact on the lives of children in the education system. She also served on the Board of Curators for University of Missouri system. When you talk about a Girl Scout giving back through life, Angela Bennett is a prime example of leadership in volunteerism!

Her devotion to Girl Scouts remained strong well into adulthood. She served on the GSKSMO Board of Directors in the early 1990s learned a lot about the organization. “Being on the Board was a good experience because I got to learn about the needs of the organization,” Angela said. She was also actively involved in the 75th Girl Scout anniversary celebration, working to find local Girl Scout alums to attend and bringing out memorabilia like her “lemy stick” and Girl Scout Brownie Book!

She has continued to invest in Girl Scouts because of the positive experiences she had as a girl and because she knows that it helps build girls for a better future. “Giving to Girl Scouts is one of the best ways to support girls as they grow to become contributing members of society,” Angela said.

Thank you to Angela Bennett for not only investing in girls, but for being a strong example of the type of woman Girl Scouts helps empower! Learn more about the Juliette Gordon Low Society and Daisy’s Circle to give back like Angela.

Man enough to lead a Service Unit! Meet Jason Sonderman, an exceptional Girl Scout dad who’s taken his leadership to the next level as Service Unit Manager for SU607. Growing in leadership just like his Girl Scout Junior daughter, Riley, Jason has gone from parent volunteer to Appreciation Pin honoree to Service Unit Manager and member of Daisy’s Circle! Talk about some serious G.I.R.L. dedication!

Jason started like most Girl Scout parents – new and unsure where volunteering would take him. When Riley was a Daisy, her mother, Micah, became the co-leader and Jason found himself picking up a variety of tasks. “It took 3-4 years for me to find my place in volunteering outside of building things and helping with carpools. Around Brownies I started finding a need in Day Camp and a place to help,” Jason said.

He found a love of working at Day Camp and started coming a couple days a week to help with the cooking program. With the guidance of fellow volunteers, he found his stride and started feeling confident in his leadership. “Working a Day Camp really opened my eyes to how parents can get involved,” Jason said. He served as unit leader for 2 years, then took over the cooking program.

To put a personal touch on his Day Camp leadership, he developed a persona named “Cookie.” “Cookie is larger than life and memorable,” Jason said. Together, Riley and Jason worked on the cooking program and as she grew as a leader, he felt pride and was even more motivated to be involved.

During cookie booth season, parents were talking about the Service Unit Manager position that was opening up. While there was a lot of interest, Jason joked about putting his hat in the ring and no one thought it was a joke, in fact, they thought it’d be great. “When no one laughed, I was surprised, but when we talked about it, it just made sense. I don’t lead a troop, so I don’t have other things vying for my attention, I can just focus on the service unit,” Jason said.

As a dad, he knows he’s in the minority as a male volunteer, but thinks that makes his service important so both genders are being represented in the organization. “Girl Scouts needs to see both genders represented as volunteers and in leadership to help them understand life outside as well as see both parents just giving back,” Jason said. Throughout all of it, the best part of giving back is being part of the Girl Scout world with Riley and Micah.

“Girl Scouts gives me something to do with my daughter and wife. I understand it, I can be engaged and participate rather than it just being their thing,” Jason said. He and Micah love the program because of the opportunities it provides for Riley.

Riley has developed her own way of expression, giving back and leadership through filming Day Camps and creating recruitment videos for them, as well as helping with the cooking program. “Girl Scouts is a full environment where girls can build a sisterhood and at the same time, learn things. They’re learning about life, leadership, and skills they’ll need to excel in our society and be respected,” Jason said.

The Sondermans not only give of their time, they give financially through Daisy’s Circle as well. “In our hearts, giving follows our faith and my wife and I have that extra amount to give to help someone be involved. We can help remove the barrier of maybe a $25 membership fee that might be preventing a girl from having this experience,” Jason said.

We thank the Sonderman family for giving so fully to Girl Scouts and believing in the power of all G.I.R.L.s. We are thrilled to see Riley grow her skills and become the best G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) she can be! If you’d like to learn more about Daisy’s Circle, visit www.daisyscircle.org.

A Message from CEO Joy Wheeler

Today, the intent of Boy Scouts of America was made crystal clear in the launch of their national marketing campaign ”Scout Me In”  designed to entice parents to enroll their girls and boys into “Scouting” through Cub Scouts of Boy Scouts of America.

Most of you are probably aware Boy Scouts have begun recruiting girls in our markets; an example yesterday evening when girls leaving their Girl Scout meeting were greeted with Boy Scout recruitment flyers.  We are aware of many more examples and they will continue to increase and become more aggressive.

I want to assure you, Girl Scouts remains firmly committed to the girl only space as we are the BEST Leadership organization for Girls.  Girl Scouts offers a safe place where girls lead, feel free to explore new things outside their comfort zone, and develop new skills that builds courage and confidence without the distractions of the gender and stereotype bias that still exists in co-ed environments. With 106 years of experience in serving only girls gives us the right to claim we have the expertise and knowledge on how to BEST develop girls to achieve their aspirations and take leadership roles.

Our girl specific leadership development program in addition to our intentional program focus areas of STEM, Entrepreneurship, and Civic Engagement are in addition to the broad experiences she gets in Outdoor activities, high adventure, and exploration.  Indeed we are developing girls; the largest untapped resource to meet the workplace needs of the 21^st century. And never before has the need for female leadership been more obvious.

I get to STAND UP FOR GIRLS every day as we develop girls to meet their full potential.  You will hear more from me and I want to hear from you!  Contact me and join us as we Stand Up For Girls…. because she deserves it.

Yours in Girl Scouting,

Joy Wheeler

G.I.R.L. and Chief Executive Officer

Want more information? Check out:

No Contest: Girl Scouts is the Best Leadership Organization for Girls

The Girl Scout Difference

The Case for Girl Scouts: Research & Data

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

The Lordi sisters behind the inspirational brand of figurative sculptures, Willow Tree, are Girl Scout Alums who found the best co-workers are family. Susan (“Sue”) and Karen Lordi have been working on projects as a team since childhood, and that sisterly teamwork has transformed into a powerful duo that’s flying high in the world of consumer art. Together, they’ve created a brand that defied artistic styles of the time, combining Sue’s art with Karen’s words.

For the Lordi family, it’s no surprise that Karen and Sue work together today because their childhood was filled with partnerships that complemented the skills of each girl. A joyful Karen found herself the willing assistant for big sister Sue’s big ideas. “Sue was always coming up with creative projects, and she wanted someone to do them with. As her younger sister, I’d do anything she said!” said Karen. From the mini summer camp they organized in their neighborhood, charging $.10/child for the day, to building Sue’s high school float (where Karen did more work than the high schoolers), the two made a great team.

During their childhood adventures, they hatched a plan to create a puppet show that mirrored their working lives today. Sue painted beautiful backdrops, sewed costumes and sculpted the papier-mâché puppets while Karen wrote the script. They both performed the show in a little puppet theater their father built and soon got requests to come perform for birthday parties in the neighborhood. This  artist/writer partnership still exists today, with their creation of the international brand, Willow Tree.

“We’ve always had this artist and writer relationship,” Karen said. “A few years ago, we realized, ‘gosh, we’re doing the same things now!’ I’m sculpting the figures, and she’s doing the writing!” Sue said.

During their childhood, both girls experienced the power of Girl Scouting. Their mother was a troop co-leader and the girls fondly reflect on memories of the play she put on with each of their troops. The play was a great way to incorporate visual art and performance art. Engaging in the costume design and scenery painting fulfilled some of Sue and Karen’s artistic desires.

As adults, Sue and Karen found themselves in the roles of co-leader and troop leader for many years. Sue encouraged her Girl Scouts, which included her daughter Sara, with innovative outdoor art projects. Karen led two troops for her daughters, Diana and Julia, for 10 years, focusing on a lot of challenging outdoor experiences. With such a love of the outdoors, it’s no wonder that the Willow Tree team does hiking retreats each year as a team builder!

Today, Sue and Karen continue their strong sisterly bond, sculpting Willow Tree figures and writing the titles and sentiments that accompany each piece. Creating Willow Tree pieces that inspire the consumer has become a passionate life’s work for both women. By standing together, believing in the original creative rationale they presented when forming the brand, they’ve been able to maintain an incredible standard of quality in Willow Tree for nearly two decades. Talk about some serious G.I.R.L.s (Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, Leaders)^TM working together!

“[Our job] is just fun. It’s not just about making money, there are a lot of places you can make money, but there aren’t many places you can have this much fun at work,” Sue said.

As Sue and Karen worked on the piece “Butterfly” that is flying into our Inspire a Girl celebration, they reflected on their own “butterfly stories” and the times they’ve overcome personal challenges. For Sue, she feels transformation happens “any time you have inner healing.” For Karen, one of her butterfly stories was learning to manage business and family. “Over the years, we’ve had to learn when to be sisters and when to work together on business. Sometimes it’s nice to just be sisters and go shopping together,” Karen said.

Every day, these sisters work together, and what they produce is a testament to their connection and creativity. You can see and feel their passion for what they do every time you give the gift of Willow Tree, and it starts from the dynamic duo of Susan and Karen Lordi—plus an amazing and dedicated team at DEMDACO!

We invite YOU to share your Butterfly Story TODAY and enter to win some AMAZING prizes – including your very own piece of Willow Tree! Girl Scouts are invited to submit their “Butterfly” story by March 12^th and our friends at Willow Tree and DEMDACO will select the winning entries – including Sue and Karen! Each Girl Scout in the troop and her leader(s) will receive her/his own “Butterfly” sculpture AND complimentary entry to April 14th’s Inspire a Girl! We will also feature the winning stories at Inspire a Girl and get a special photo opportunity.

A special thanks to DEMDACO for their incredibly generous donation of the “Butterfly” sculptures, and to Susan and Karen Lordi for their involvement in this contest.

When Girl Scouts have big goals, innovation happens! Thanks to a super, supportive dad with special expertise, Girl Scout Junior Troop 1052 from Blue Springs, Missouri is working hard toward their troop goal of taking a trip together to St. Louis. And, Kansas City is getting its very first Girl Scout Cookie 5K Run/Walk. On March 3, 2018, you can run for cookies and celebrate G.I.R.L.s (Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, Leaders)^TM.

Scott Chilcutt manages runs for a living, working with KC Running Company. He’d seen Girl Scout cookie runs in other cities and when his daughter’s troop had ambitious goals for their trip, he saw it as a perfect fit to bring a Girl Scout cookie run to KC! It was a unique way he could contribute his own skill set to improve the troop experience for his daughter, Addy, and her Girl Scout sisters.

Troop 1052 has been together since 1^st grade and they’re now awesome 5^th grade Girl Scout Juniors. Scott loves having Addy in Girl Scouts because of the skills she learns and the things they get to do together.  “Girl Scouting gives Addy a lot of rewards. She has a community with her Girl Scout sisters, they have a lot of community involvement and I like the direction the troop has gone,” Scott said.

Left: Scott and daughter, Addy; Right: Troop 1052 at their 2017 St. Louis trip!

While his wife, Cassy, volunteers a lot with the troop, he still gets to be involved and help Addy with some of her new skills. “Girl Scouts is about getting back to the basics of what it is to be a dad and daughter. It’s an opportunity to work on skills that are starting to fall by the wayside,” Scott said.

Scott is hoping this run will become an annual event and hopes to involve more troops as it grows in size. He especially loves that it’s combining physical fitness with Girl Scout cookies – which are so very yummy and tempting to eat! “The Cookie Run will let people come support girls in a way they haven’t before. It’s a healthy initiative, which is new to combine with cookies. It’s teaching girls that it’s okay to eat the cookies when you’re pairing it with something healthy,” Scott said.

The run will take place in Independence, MO, near the Bass Pro Shop and with Girl Scout volunteers on hand, we know this is going to be an exciting celebration of girls! With Girl Scout Cookies as the prize and samples of each flavor available for runners, what better way to spend a Saturday? This run will feature food/celebrations at the end, runners getting to pick their favorite GS Cookie to celebrate finishing the race, a t-shirt for the day and much more.

Here’s a special sneak peek at the T-shirt design for the run!

If you’re inspired to support girls in a healthy, fun way, join us on March 3 as we cheer on everyone who stands with girls! You can register here – $34 for adults, $12 for kids (until March 1, when prices increase). You can also help the troop by sharing their facebook event for this run!

“Resilient, determined, courageous and beautiful… You have the qualities to transform your world…” –Susan Lordi (artist).

These words – resilient, determined, courageous, beautiful – all describe not only the life journey of the monarch butterfly, but also our own G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)^TM Girl Scouts. When you think about the journey a butterfly goes through – from caterpillar to cocoon to breaking out of its shell to becoming one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet – its resilient strength only gets amplified. It’s no wonder this creature was the inspiration for the Kansas City based, internationally known artist behind Willow Tree®, Susan Lordi.

Strongly influenced by nature, art history, architecture, ballet and her family, Susan conceives and creates each Willow Tree piece at her studio in Kansas City, MO, surrounded by the robust art scene of the Crossroads district. After Susan sculpts and carves the original, it is then cast in resin that perfectly captures each of her knife marks. Each piece is then hand-painted, based on coloration and techniques unique to Willow Tree.

Many of us have strong memories with one of Susan’s creations. Her gesture-focused figures, with their elegant simplicity, invoke memories for anyone who has received one as a gift. Maybe it was a graduation gift, maybe a brother gave it to a sister, maybe a mother gave it to her daughter at her wedding. No matter the occasion, if you have a Willow Tree sculpture, it has meaning for you.  In Susan’s words, “Willow Tree isn’t so much about the tangible piece. It represents an emotion, or it marks a memory”.

For 2018, Susan Lordi created a very special sculpture that combines the power of a girl with the resilience of the monarch butterfly…all accented with gold. Inspired by her love of the prairie, butterflies and the strength of women, “Butterfly” the sculpture was born. Girls. Strength. Gold.

“Butterfly” beautifully captures the essence of being a Girl Scout. The journey a monarch goes through sounds very similar to the growth of a Girl Scout from Daisy to Ambassador – finding strength and becoming more beautiful as she learns to spread her wings and fly. Because Willow Tree sculptures are all about the personal stories behind them…Willow Tree, DEMDACO and Girl Scouts invite YOU to tell YOUR butterfly story!

Beginning TODAY, February 12, Girl Scout Junior, Cadette, Senior & Ambassador troops and individual (Indy) Girl Scouts are invited to submit their “Butterfly” story for an awesome contest. Your story will want to embody what it means to you to be resilient, determined and courageous. How do you take action to change the world? How have you grown or will continue to grow into the beautiful monarch butterfly? We want this to be a girl-led activity, include plenty of creativity (submit artwork, a powerpoint, a video, etc.) and show others the power of being a Girl Scout!

Our story submission process will end on Girl Scouts’ 106th birthday – March 12^th, with winners announced on Tuesday, March 20^th, the first day of Spring. Our friends at Willow Tree and DEMDACO will select the winning entries – including Susan herself!

What do the winning “Butterfly” storytellers receive? Each Girl Scout in the troop and her leader(s) will receive her/his own “Butterfly” sculpture AND complimentary entry to April 14^th’s Inspire a Girl! We will also feature the winning stories at Inspire a Girl and get a special photo opportunity.  A minimum of two troops or Indy Girl Scouts will be selected from each region (Central, East, West & North).

Learn more and submit your entry here between Feb. 12 – Mar. 12, 2018. We can’t wait to see these awesome “butterfly stories” from our amazing Girl Scouts!

Watch this special message from Susan! 

A special thanks to DEMDACO for their incredibly generous donation of the “Butterfly” sculptures, and to Susan and Karen Lordi (artist and writer sisters behind Willow Tree) for making this contest possible. Stay tuned for more exciting “Butterfly” announcements coming soon!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, Girl Scouts! We are wishing you a warm, safe holiday with your friends and families. As the holiday season is upon us, we will be taking a short break from the blog. But don’t forget to subscribe to the right – we’ll be back in 2018 with some amazing stories you won’t want to miss!

Happy Holidays to all!!

‘Twas the night before a G.I.R.L. sleepover Christmas, and all through the Girl Scout House

All the girls were stirring, creating smiles for all, even the mouse,

Their patches had been sewn (or Badge-Magiced) on their sashes with care,

And hopes that a new skill-building badge soon would be there,

The Girl Scouts were nestled all snug in their beds

With plans for service projects dancing their heads

And in the corner there sat many camp SWAPS filled caps

And Journey books sat open on those little Girl Scouts’ laps

When all at once one G.I.R.L. jumped, the book falling with a clatter

“I know of a Take Action project we can do that really will matter,

It won’t be easy, it won’t be quick, but it’ll be real smash!

And  we can put a pin upon our sash.”

So the Girl Scouts ran out to the new-fallen snow

And danced with great joy of their plans, their eyes all a-glow,

For they would tell their leader of their idea to give back,

And knew that they could help fix something their community did lack.

Then they ran back inside, all wet and cold

And telling their leader of their plans, she/he was sold.

They started making lists for when the morning came,

And finally gave their Bronze Award project a beautiful name.

“Now it’s time for you all to get some good rest,

For this project to work, we need your minds at their best,”

Said their leader with glee

And the girls went to sleep, ready to help you and me.

This is the story of so many Girl Scout nights

For in troop meetings you see minds become very bright lights,

Together we help raise strong G.I.R.L.s for tomorrow

And their excitement and joy we all would do well to borrow.

So thank you to all for what you give all year,

You’re making a difference, and we hold it so dear.

Merry Christmas to all and your families near and far

Your Girl Scout family is with you, wherever you are!